Put together this 8 x 8 inch firefighter-themed layout in less than thirty minutes with paper scraps and store-bought letters for the title.

This scrapbook project is sure to bring a smile to anyone who has a firefighter as a loved one. The title “Rescue Squad” is made with white letter rub-ons and stencil tiles. The journaling, short and sweet, reads Putting out frowns one smile at a time and is printed on white cardstock and cut into two strips before being adhered to the page. A painted chipboard flower at the bottom adds a feminine touch to the masculine colors, and a button and gems add texture.

Technique for Making “Rescue Squad” Firefighter Layout

Materials needed:

• 3 co-ordinating patterned papers (scraps will do)
• 2 gems
• 1 chipboard flower
• rub-on alphabet (white)
• cardstock (red and white)
• acrylic paint (black and beige/white)
• gold felt pen
• square brads (turquoise)
• button and embroidery floss
• adhesive (double stick tape and glue dots were used in this project)
• 2 photos (4 x 5 and 2 x 2)

Directions

1. Assemble background by cutting an 8 x 8 inch piece of patterned paper. Cut the red cardstock on a diagonal about 3 inches from the top (see photo below).
2. Place the large photo on top of the patterned paper, flush with the inside edge. Adhere the red cardstock over the photo. Below the large picture, add a 1/2 inch strip of the second patterned paper.
3. Place the smaller photo on the right-hand side of the page, about 2 in. from the top and 1 in. from the side. Frame the photo with two smaller strips of patterned paper.
4. Put floss through the button holes and tie in front. Adhere to corner of smaller picture, overlapping the patterned paper frame.
5. Paint the outer chipboard flower black and the inside of the flower beige/white. Once dry, outline the edges of the black piece with the gold pen. Pierce the middle of the flower with a large square brad. Adhere a gem to the brad.
6. Print journaling on white cardstock and cut into two thin strips. Adhere strips as shown on right-hand side.
7. Add title in bottom right-hand corner. Alter the title words so that they are not placed in a straight line (see photo below). In the example, “Rescue” is done with white rub-on letters and “Squad” with stencil tiles. Below the tiles, insert square brad with adhered gem.
8. Adhere chipboard flower to bottom of larger photo.

Supplies used

Patterned papers: Cactus Pink; cardstock: Stampin’ Up; chipboard flower: Making Memories Jigsaw Shapes and Flowers; Brads, gems, stencil tiles: Joann Scrap Essentials; rub-ons: Making Memories Simply Stated Destination Small White

Variation

The diagonal cut technique can be used not only to hide a photo, but also other items on the page: patterned paper strips, chipboard, sticker letters in the title, tags, journaling, and so on.